Gas station employee fired for resisting robber

[seamusTX]

I have no way of knowing what the company policy on employees being assaulted is. I'll bet it doesn't recommend intervening, though.

The story says that the robber was not attacking the woman cashier. Mr. Beverly thought she was. IOW, he acted before fully evaluating the situation.

I'll rephrase what I wrote earlier: This firing sounds like bureaucratic excess; but it's what we get in a world where lawyers and risk-averse executives make the rules, and employees are expendable.

- Jim

[DParker]

I have no way of knowing what the company policy on employees being assaulted is. I'll bet it doesn't recommend intervening, though.

Likely not. But I'd bet it doesn't prohibit intervention either.

The story says that the robber was not attacking the woman cashier. Mr. Beverly thought she was. IOW, he acted before fully evaluating the situation.

I don't think that's either fair or accurate. The story tells us that she screamed, and that "The security tape showed the female co-worker struggling with the robber over the cash-register drawer."

So there was a scream and a physical altercation taking place. Now I'm not sure what you mean by "fully evaluating" the situation, but it sounds like he had reasonable grounds for drawing a conclusion in the heat of the moment that she was being assaulted. How much time should he have taken before acting? Should he have given up the advantage of surprise by announcing his presence and asking what was going on?

I'll rephrase what I wrote earlier: This firing sounds like bureaucratic excess; but it's what we get in a world where lawyers and risk-averse executives make the rules, and employees are expendable.

A conclusion with which I've already agreed.

[seamusTX]

So there was a scream and a physical altercation taking place. Now I'm not sure what you mean by "fully evaluating" the situation, but it sounds like he had reasonable grounds for drawing a conclusion in the heat of the moment that she was being assaulted. How much time should he have taken before acting? Should he have given up the advantage of surprise by announcing his presence and asking what was going on?

I don't know. Based only on this story, I don't have enough information.

Maybe the woman clerk was resisting the robber, even though she was not supposed to. Maybe the robber just pushed her away from the cash register. I don't know if Mr. Beverly was in a position to be sure that the robber did not have a knife or handgun, which could have resulted in the other clerk being stabbed or shot.

The only point I have been trying to make is that this situation is not as simple as a big, bad, heartless company unfairly firing a hero (though they probably are big, bad, and heartless ).

- Jim

[DParker]

I don't know. Based only on this story, I don't have enough information.

Maybe the woman clerk was resisting the robber, even though she was not supposed to. Maybe the robber just pushed her away from the cash register. I don't know if Mr. Beverly was in a position to be sure that the robber did not have a knife or handgun, which could have resulted in the other clerk being stabbed or shot.

OK. Then I guess we'll just regard your "IOW, he acted before fully evaluating the situation" conclusion as something of a mystery.

The only point I have been trying to make is that this situation is not as simple as a big, bad, heartless company unfairly firing a hero (though they probably are big, bad, and heartless ).

Well, like I said...no disagreement there.

[seamusTX]

OK. Then I guess we'll just regard your "IOW, he acted before fully evaluating the situation" conclusion as something of a mystery.

Here's the problem. The original story contains conflicting statements, two of them from the company spokeswoman:

The security tape showed the female co-worker struggling with the robber over the cash-register drawer, Casey said.

"We have a statement from both [Beverly] and the female employee," Casey said. "Neither one of them say anything about her being attacked, hurt or anything, and the video we have substantiates it."

Beverly said that from his vantage point, he thought she was being attacked.

So which was it? What is "struggling" vesus "being attacked"? I just don't know. It's a typically muddled TV news story.

- Jim

[SRizz21]

I think it is ridiculous he was fired for trying to help his coworker. The business should be ashamed of themselves for firing him. He certainly did the right thing in my eyes.

[TDDude]

I sure wish SuperAmerica would come to Texas so that us good defenders of the Texas way could run them out of business.